In a recent feature article 1UP.com reviewed the ideas which have continued to impact game design since their first use. Some of the ideas examined include power ups, hit points, magic spells, sniper weapons, and vehicles. While much of the commentary focuses on console gaming, the impact of these concepts have reached all platforms.

In the early days of videogames, you had two choices... either you could travel on foot, or hitch a ride on a spaceship or sports car. You could never alternate between one or the other in the same game. Taito changed this with Front Line, the first in a long series of overhead military shooters. Front Line introduced a number of innovations to the video game industry, concepts that would later be improved in Capcom's Commando and SNK's Ikari Warriors.

However, the most important of these features was the chance to take command of an abandoned tank lying dormant on the battlefield. Once you climb inside it, this armored military vehicle can crush enemy soldiers that were once fatal to the touch. The tank also changed the feel of the gameplay, giving Front Line the variety that was often lacking in early videogames. This variety is even more pronounced in recent titles like Microsoft's Halo 2. Thanks to an advanced physics engine, the Warthog really feels like a rugged all-terrain vehicle, racing through grassy fields and leaping over hills at speeds that Master Chief never could on foot.